Confidence high as a strong domestic and international contingent assemble for the 100th Karaka Sale
New Zealand Bloodstock is set to mark a significant milestone as the National Yearling Sale celebrates its 100th anniversary, offering a refined catalogue of quality yearlings to be offered across three days of selling, beginning on Sunday at Karaka.
The centenary edition follows a solid 2025 renewal, when five days of trade across Book 1 and Book 2 delivered encouraging results. Across the two books, 751 yearlings were sold for an aggregate NZ$86,321,500, with a combined clearance rate of 80 per cent. The average price was NZ$114,942 and the median NZ$80,000.
International buyers accounted for 54.5 per cent of turnover, while New Zealand purchasers also contributed significantly, purchasing 435 lots for a total spend of $39,242,500.
The sale topper was Lot 345, a Savabeel (Zabeel) filly out of Symphonic (O’Reilly), purchased for NZ$2.4 million by Guy Mulcaster and Chris Waller on behalf of New Zealand owner Glenn Ritchie. Offered by Haunui Farm, she became the most expensive filly ever sold at Karaka.
The second-highest lot was secured late in Book 1, when Kingsclere Stable trainers Roger James and Robert Wellwood paid NZ$1.1 million for Lot 564, a Proisir (Choisir) filly out of Donna Marie (Don Eduardo), offered by Hallmark Stud.
David Ellis led the buying bench with 27 purchases totalling NZ$4,757,500, while Haunui Farm was the leading vendor by aggregate, selling 37 yearlings for NZ$7,343,000.
NZB managing director Andrew Seabrook believes the centenary edition is shaping up strongly, with a diverse mix of international and domestic buyers present at the Karaka complex.
“We’ve been planning for the hundred year sale for a couple of years now,” Seabrook told ANZ News. “For the last few months, it’s been the talk of the industry, not just in New Zealand, but overseas as well. I was over at the Gold Coast a couple of weeks ago and got a really good vibe there and about people wanting to come over and attend the sale. Our bookings are fantastic, and walking around the sales ground it is really busy and there is a nice atmosphere.”
Despite wet conditions early in the week, Seabrook said the resilience of the industry meant little could dampen enthusiasm.
“Everyone’s in a positive frame of mind, despite the horrendous weather on Wednesday. This is our 100th continuous sale – we’ve survived World War II, COVID, and the flood three years ago – so the rain on Wednesday wasn’t going to dent our enthusiasm for the next few days.”
Fresh from a successful Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, which recorded an increased clearance rate of 86.70 per cent across both books, up from 80.44 per cent in 2025, Seabrook is hopeful that momentum will flow into Karaka.
“The success of the Ready To Run Sale gives us confidence. The sales season seems to have started well in Queensland, and the fact that it’s our 100-year celebration allows us to get more support from our vendors, resulting in a better catalogue.”
A key feature of the centenary edition is a slight adjustment to the sale format: with Book 1 reduced to two days of selling and Book 2 condensed to one, ensuring all yearlings were on the complex throughout the inspection period.
A total of 567 lots, down from 661 last year, have been catalogued for Book 1, with 281 in Book 2, down from 427, alongside 161 yearlings assembled for the Karaka Summer Sale.
“All the horses are here on the ground, so every horse has been given the same opportunity,” Seabrook said. “In the past, some horses transitioning from Book 1 to Book 2 weren’t able to be inspected by overseas buyers, so this has been particularly well received by Australian clients.
“We have lots of Australians here, some new faces, and some returning to lend support for the 100th anniversary. We are really happy with the bench we have been able to assemble. Although Hong Kong and the Hong Kong market seem to be more in tune with the Ready To Run Sale these days, there’s quite a few Hong Kong and Chinese buyers here, so that’s really heartening as well.”
Seabrook believes the catalogue offers depth across all levels of the market, buoyed by the strength of last November’s Ready to Run Sale.
“A successful Ready To Run Sale will give the pinhookers the confidence to go again. Certainly a lot of pinhookers out there looking and when you combine that with the end users from New Zealand and Australia and further afar, that gives us a bit of confidence that the sale should at least hold up, but I’d be disappointed if we couldn’t see an increase on last year.”
Among the vendors embracing the centenary edition is Little Avondale Stud, who will present a draft of 19 yearlings in Book 1, including seven by their star stallion Per Incanto (Street Cry).
Owner Sam Williams said the buzz around the complex had been evident throughout inspections.
“It has been busy, but we expect it to be busy,” Williams said. “NZB deserves applause for the new concept. The format has made it a true Book 1 and Book 2, and we’re really getting behind it and supporting it too.”
Per Incanto continues to build an exceptional record on the track, particularly in Australia, headlined by Ciaron Maher’s sprinters Jimmysstar and Gringotts both striking at elite-level in 2025.
“Per Incanto is leading as far as the numbers in our draft,” Williams said. “He’s had a wonderful last two or three years. He’s fifth in the Australian premiership at the moment. The Australians really have just gravitated towards him.
“Obviously, he has Jimmysstar, Evaporate and Gringotts to the fore, but over the last couple of days, I’ve had a number of trainers telling me they’ve got a really exciting Per Incanto in their stable that hasn’t even started yet. Now that is the most satisfying thing for me to hear from trainers.”
Williams is confident the stud’s draft will be well received and said they had been very selective about the type of yearlings they would offer at the sales.
“I think personally that we’ve got a really nice draft. We were fussy during the year with what we were going to be taking to the yearling sales. But also in saying that, I think we were very lucky too, with the foal crop that we had. We’ve worked on it over the last few years, the mares that we’ve got. With Per Incanto, the stallions we’re mating to, they’re the sort of sires that leave a good style of horse.”
A potential highlight of the Little Avondale draft is Lot 270, a filly by Newgate stallion In The Congo (Snitzel) out of winning mare Anaween (More Than Ready).
“She’s a very mature filly. In The Congo has sold extremely well in Australia, and I went to him two years ago when Per Incanto was injured and we didn’t know if he would cover that season.
“At the time, I was also undergoing cancer treatment, so I was a bit anxious about the type of mares I’d be able to breed and conscious of not wanting to spend heavily on service fees. I sent her to In The Congo on a foal share with David Wallace, a mate of mine who owns shares in him, and she’s turned out to be an absolute star filly.”
Another highlight is Lot 333, a Per Incanto filly out of winning Exceed And Excel (Danehill) mare Candy Bar. Her third dam is Group 1 winner Lovely Jubly (Lion Hunter), who in turn produced champion sprinter Chautauqua (Encosta De Lago).
“Lot 333 is an absolute star. She is from a very fast Australian family, Chatauqua’s family. It’s a family that doesn’t often go on the market, so the Australians turn up here and see one of their star sprinting families here in New Zealand, but it’s by Per Incanto, and he is, I guess you could say, the first stallion ever in New Zealand history to consistently leave top class sprinters in Australia, so it’s an attraction for them.”
Lot 311 also holds special significance for Williams, being a half-brother to the Zoustar (Northern Meteor) colt sold by Little Avondale for $1.7 million at last year’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, the highest price ever sold off the farm.
“We have a magnificent Russian Revolution colt. He is out of a Per Incanto Group-winning mare Belluci Babe. She was the mother of the first seven figure yearling we ever sold, last year for $1.7 million. He’s a ripping type. And I think Per Incanto as a broodmare sire is really going to leave a legacy and trainers are really noting him as a broodmare sire.”
Milan Park owner Tony Rider was also confident that the positive atmosphere around the complex would translate to strong results in the ring.
“We’ve got 17 horses in the draft,” Rider told ANZ News. “I just had Bruce Slade over there, and he commented on the whole draft that it was probably the most consistent draft here at Karaka. We spend a lot of time working out the bloods, doing the pedigree, and Grant’s [Bennett, stud manager] job is all about making sure they get here safely and they look good. Condition wise, not too fat, not too thin. So there’s a real fine line in there, getting them right.
“You’ve got to take your hat off to NZB, Andrew Seabrook and the team,” he added. “There’s a lot of faces here that I’ve never seen. They’ve really promoted it well. They’ve asked a lot of owners to keep their horses here. We do keep our horses here, but we’ve got fillies here that wouldn’t normally be here, it’s because it’s the 100th year.”
Cambridge Stud will offer 70 yearlings across both books, with owners Brendan and Jo Lindsay once again committing their entire draft to the National Yearling Sale.
Scott Calder, sales and nominations at Cambridge, said the centenary edition was a fitting occasion to continue that support.
“Brendan and Jo made that decision quite early in the piece and I think it’s fitting this year given it’s the 100th year,” Calder said. “Brendan and Jo are very keen to support the sale and be a big part of it, but it means there’s a lot of horses and it’s been a lot of logistics to get it all come together. Alice Jeffries, our yearling manager, and everyone’s done an amazing job. Thankfully, we’ve got a big number of horses, but it’s a very good draft right through from the top, right through.”
Calder believes buyer appetite remains strong following the Gold Coast results.
He said: “I think we always watch Magics closely and I wasn’t there, but looking at it and talking to people, it sounds like it was as buoyant as you could hope for. So naturally you have to be optimistic.
“Our inspections have been really solid. We had the one day with the rain that was a washout for us, but yesterday was as busy a day as we’ve had and today’s really busy too. I’m not saying the sale is going to break records, but I think it’ll hold up well.”
Meanwhile, Irish-born, New Zealand-based bloodstock agent Ed Stapleton said excitement had been building steadily in the lead-up to the centenary sale.
He said: “The general feeling on the ground is one of excitement, and appreciation for some very good stock. The 100-year celebration has been talked about for a while, but the momentum really started about four weeks ago, when we had the on-farm parades, and it has really followed onto here.
“We were privileged to see a lot of really good stock on the parades, and they have arrived here at Karaka, we are twice as excited to see them. I think, in general, stock quality is up everywhere is the general consensus.”
A regular on the international sales circuit, Stapleton praised the atmosphere created at Karaka despite challenging conditions.
“Despite the rain, there are plenty of people here and plenty of shows are happening,” he said. “Most vendors would say that they have bigger footfalls than other years and I think it’s going to be a really good sale. I’m excited for it, there is plenty going on and the hospitality of every vendor is second to none.”
A frequent pinhooker, Stapleton said the sale continues to cater to a wide range of buyers, while underpinning NZB’s successful Ready To Run Sale.
He said: “On the back of the Ready To Run sale’s success last year, there’s plenty of people who would be looking for trade horses. There’s a lot of Australian trainers here, there’s a lot of Hong Kong and Asian market interest, which don’t typically come down, so that’s great. I think most vendors are going to have a good time, so it is all positive.”
With selling set to get under way at 10am (NZT) on Sunday, Seabrook also highlighted the role of Ellerslie’s Karaka Millions twilight meeting as a powerful lead-in to the week.
He said: “It was our 19th Karaka Millions night last night. Sponsored by TAB now, and it’s just under NZ$5 million. When we started 19 years ago, the 3-year-old race was only NZ$100,000 and that’s gone to NZ$1.5 million, and then to have a Group 1 on the card and the four-year-old NZ$1 million race, and two other group races is huge.
“It’s now the biggest night of the year, and it’s the biggest race day of the year, punting wise. On turnover per race, there’s no bigger race meeting in New Zealand for punting. So it’s a great entrée into the week, and hopefully it’s the launch of a successful week.”
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